The Man in the Cell
by Quiche.exe
Summary: There had only been one man in all of Azkaban that sent true terror into Sirius Black's bones. He was not a violent, or angry, or deceitful man. No –he had easily been the nicest man Sirius had ever met. So the question stood. How had a man like him ended up in Azkaban of all hell holes?
1. Crazy Things

There had only been one man in all of Azkaban that sent true terror into Sirius Black's bones. He was not a violent, or angry, or deceitful man. No –he had easily been the nicest man Sirius had ever met. So the question stood. How had a man like him ended up in Azkaban of all hell holes. It buzzed at the back of the supposed criminal's mind for a year before it was swept away in a single action. A look…a look in a night filled with thunder and screams of the deranged –that was all it had taken from the guy to send the dementors running. Very suddenly it didn't seem like such a crazy thing that the man was there.

Somewhere, in his broken mind, he was terrified. But far, far greater than that, he was incredibly, incredibly grateful. That impossible man was in the dark sludges of corruption with him. Ideas Sirius had long since buried were once again entertained. It was a feeling Sirius liked the think of as hope. Then, of course, there had been that one morning –so early that it really should have still been considered night. Where the man he had unthinkingly began calling a friend, shook him awake. With eyes completely untouched by the fog that constantly polluted the air, he grinned an expression that had no place in that cell. He could hardly breathe, but the blonde didn't stop, he was grinning the whole time –as he ushered a ragged Sirius onto his feet, into his dog form, and through a crack in the wall. There had been parting words that Sirius could only blearily remember. Something along the lines of, "I better not see you in here again, Inu," before the man then turned to stare directly into the hooded veil of a swarm of dementors.

Sirius had only then realized there was a small fishing boat about half a mile off, oblivious to the prison by it's side. And only then recalled that his godson was across those waters, within reach of the same man who had signed his best friend's gravestones. It was a blur. And Sirius had left, intending to return one day to free his friend as well. But the wait stretched, and now Sirius felt that same question busing itself at the back of his head again.

"Sirius…Sirius are you alright?" A warm hand was set on his shoulder, and the ex-Azkaban prisoner lifted his gaze to see the only other man he considered a true friend staring at him with concern. Remus gave a kind smile that had Sirius's gut twisting in a familiar way

"I'm fine, Moony," Sirius shifted, head turning across the room. The entire order starred back at him. Some with concern, some with curiosity, and some with cold indifference. None were truly cruel. Sirius landed on Dumbledore, "…but I have an idea,"


	2. A Little Off

Sax had a fixation with smelling things. Well that, and he was just plain weird most days. Naruto supposed he could attribute that to the fact that the scrawny worm of a man had probably been in there since long before the blond had arrived. Recently, the old guy had been obsessing over Naruto in particular. He danced around Naruto, tripping over his own limbs as well as the odd striped drapes that the prison had them wear.

"Mad, Foxy, Mad! You're driving them all mad!" Naruto's eye twitched at the guy, and his raucous calls. The too thin man's beady eyes swerved all around the courtyard and gnarled fingers scratched towards the sky. Or more precisely, the cloaked figures –dementors they were called- that roamed the entire prison. Taking notice of the flailing man, a dementor swooped down towards the pair. Even against the greying sky, the nothingness that swelled inside a flimsy veil as a literal embodiment of dread, made an impending figure. It very rarely did not.

Sax gave out a screech, and kicked himself all the way to Naruto's back. The moving dementor halted only meters from the two, and Naruto could feel that same nothingness glaring into his eyes. He stared back, and lifted his lips to give it his favorite shit eating grin. With an odd clicking noise, and a whisper of something not quite real, the creature ducked back up into the sky.

"Ha!" Sax was leering over Naruto's shoulder now, lanky limbs draped in every direction "See Foxy, see! Do! See! Foxy makes them off. But why? Ha-ha!" The man cackled in crazed glee. His crooked jaw paused mid laugh, snapped shut, and nostrils flared as he took a good long sniff of Naruto. The blonde scrunched up his nose at the man.

"Hey, don't smell me!"

Sax only continued with his previous cackle, "Feasties. Yes, yes, yes we are." He was dancing again. This time his foot got caught on the splayed limb of a sleeping prisoner, and he went tumbling into the shadows with another bout of mad laughter.

Naruto twitched again. He scratched his cheek too. Then he turned, and began to make his way out of the courtyard. He had gone there to get some peace and quiet, but Sax made quick work of that idea. The prison was good at noise, as deserted as it felt. There was always someone moaning to themselves, or screaming at no one. But the people themselves hardly seemed real. Sunken into the decaying walls like a grotesque form of decoration, or wandering about in a sort of droning pace like a piece of living clockwork.

Everyone here had lost their minds.

Well, except for him. He was too awesome for that.

Or, at least, that's what he told himself. There had been another guy a while back too. Sirius Something-or-another. He had smelt like Kiba, but looked nothing like his old canine affiliated friend. The man was anything but crazy –maybe sad. More than sad. No, he was –what was that one word Sakura had used? Melancholy? Yeah, melancholy. The forlorn, hopeless kind of sad that Naruto had seen in the eyes of veteran shinobi. He was a lot like Sasuke in that aspect, or in any aspect that concerned his looks too. Naruto wondered about the man, and where he'd ended up. He'd had a godson, if Naruto remembered right. Some kid whose parents once knew Sirius. That part was strangely like Jiraiya.

Fuck it, in the end, the dog-man had really just been a conglomeration of people Naruto knew. Which made the entire truth of him being completely and utterly cut off from them, with no clear way back, all that more harsh. He didn't even have a clear way out of the prison. Energy reinforced corridors, windows only big enough for a foot, walls that stretched a mile high, and prison guards that gave him the willies. Not to mention the entire thing was smack dab on the middle of an island. Knowing Naruto's recent luck, that island was nowhere near any semblance of land.

The blonde huffed and ambled around a woman who may have been a man. Or perhaps a man who was actually a woman. All sorts belonged to this place –including him. The lost shinobi who had better things to do but no chakra to actually get those things done. At some point Naruto would find his way to a slightly damp corner of seclusion. The rough fabric of the striped gown did little against the chilly warmth, but after four years, Naruto didn't have to think about it too much. Instead, he folded his legs under himself and gave his best shot at meditation. It was an effort he had been doing daily for months and months –trying to feel the chakra that he knew he had, but somehow wasn't there.

All he felt was empty.

"Aah!" Naruto ran his fingers through his hair furiously, tipping back until he was nearly laying on the floor, "As soon as I get back to Konoha, I'm buying myself the biggest bowl of ramen that old man Ichiraku has ever made!"

"Tastey feasties," Sax nodded along. The man was crouched on the balls of his feet next to Naruto –leathery face a dozen inches too close for comfort.

"Gah!" The blond tumbled over, and he glared at the fellow prisoner. Said man winked back, gnawing on a stick in his hand. On closer examination, it most definitely was not a stick. Well, it was. But it wasn't just a stick. It had half of a slightly cooked fish carcass on it, teeth marks adorning the badly prepared animal just as much as they decorated the stick.

"Feasties for foxy!" The man cheered at Naruto's tumble. He had promptly held out the fish towards Naruto, shaking hands expecting the blond to take it.

"eh," Naruto recoiled at it. He was pretty sure that was a tooth lodged in it's eye, "I already ate," It wasn't even a lie, as strange as the thought was. Naruto was no newcomer to going hungry, nearly growing up on the streets as he had. But this place put a whole new meaning to the definition starving. Old man Hokage used to drop by to whisk Naruto off for ramen. Here, once a week or so, a large assortment of food would appear in the courtyard. By no means enough food to feed everyone in the prison. He supposed they were meant to ration it or share it –but few people here had any mind to do that, when he had first arrived. Those that did, were quickly overpowered by the other's craving for food. Meals from only the day before had once been cleared out in mere minutes. There was no doubt that food in the prison was few and far between, and currently, they were in the far-between.. Naruto blinked, "Hey, Sax, where'd you get that fish?"

"Foxy said he wasn't hungry!" Sax looked almost betrayed by the new development. Naruto shook his head. He was more confused about where the man had gotten it, than anything else, "Foxy is forgiven!" The man leaped to his feet, in a movement so fast it was no surprise that he collapsed into a wall just as quickly. He did however, manage to grip onto it like a demented gecko, "This way foxy, into the scaries of the walls,"

Naruto jogged to keep up with the galloping man, who weaved around the corridors with a chaotic sense of direction. The beady eyed resident ducked into, just as he had said, a wall. What Naruto had assumed was just more stone, actually turned out to be a thin staircase, leading downwards. It was just as grungy as the rest of the prison. Naruto hunched that this wasn't exactly a secret staircase then.

"Castle's dungeon, down we go! With all the rats and hats and ladies and prats," The man sung in a voice like sandpaper on glass. His tune was some sort of demented mash up of the happy birthday song and a funeral march. He tripped along merrily. Naruto decided to cover his ears.

At the base of the stairs was a cavern, it was wide but not very tall, and seemed to serve a similar purpose as a basement. Broken piles of wood that may have once been furniture were lined up along some of the walls. A small ashy pit that still smoked slightly was wedged in between two stretches of stone. The cavern itself was dripping, and smelt strongly of the salt in the ocean outside.

A puddle as wide as the staircase had formed next to the far wall. Sax was staring into it with the fascination of a man who had just found the most interesting thing in the world. With a sigh of disappointment Naruto made his way over. He peered at Sax first and the puddle second, arms folded behind his mess of hair. Sax's face was elated with his own mad glee. The puddle was dark and still. Naruto squinted. He couldn't see the bottom of the thing. That's weird. He joined Sax in crouching next to the puddle, and peered in even further. There was no- SPLSH!

"Ack!" The chilling water was on his face, in his shirt, and between his toes in a matter of

seconds. Which made no sense, except for the fact that somehow, that small dark puddle was definitely not a puddle at all. The 'puddle' was almost an impossibly thin space, and the blond had to twist and turn around his own limbs just to flip himself back towards the surface. The water, now muddied from the dirt that had been clinging to his face and hair, slapped onto the rocks. Sax grinned at him.

"Puddles not a puddle! Puddle not a puddles!" He waved his arms around like a man trying to fly. Naruto grimaced, pulling himself out of the hole. He had pushed him in! "Tunnels it is, tunnels for foxy," The man was giggling now, feint and high like a little girl. It looked wrong coming out of the man's mouth.

Naruto snorted, but looked into the cold waters. Tunnels? Did that mean that this led to the sea? A way out? He rung his soaked robes between his hands. Was it worth a shot? The blond gave a look towards the giggling man, "Hey Sax, I think I have an idea"

The gaun man giggled, waving both hands wildly. Past him, Naruto could hear the swirling waves through the cavern, and he grinned with an excitement he hadn't felt in years.

Intermission

The boy felt a familiar sense of dread. Very few people frequented the Janus Thickey Ward of St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. The place was wrapped up and sealed away like an old secret. A closet of skeletons only opened to be cleaned and fed.

Neville Longbottom was one of the few who consistently showed up at the ward. For the four nurses who ran the department, he was a pleasant face in a stressful day. For Neville, it was a reminder of two parents he had hardly known.

"Oh, Neville!" One of the younger nurses, Tabitha Greymier, smiled at him. She was about twice Neville's age, and had always greeted the boy with a small hug and a tall tale, "Didn't know you would be showing today deary. Madam Strout just put Frank down for a nap,"

Neville shifted a bit, and began rethinking coming to the hospital without his grandmother. But Tabitha gave him little option to go back. The woman had rounded the counter in a matter of moments, and slung an arm around his shoulders with a slight squeeze. She was walking down the hallway before she had even let go. It would just look odd if he left now, right? The way through the halls was filled with a quick story about Tabitha's cousin, who had performed accidental magic on their cat so that it grew wings.

"Alice should be up though, ah here we are," A thick wooden door, latched from the outside, was opened. It was quiet on the inside, save for a soft scratching near the window. The walls were made up of a faded floral paper, and the floor of a soft yellow tile. White curtains were hung from the ceiling, concealing half the room from sight. The portions of the room that he could see were made up of unfinished puzzles and scattered board games. There were three or four unclothed tables sitting about the room. The one by the window was where his mother was sat. One hand fiddled with a chipped chess piece, and the other scratched at the pot of a flowery plant. Her wispy hair seemed slightly fuller than last time.

"Ah, Alice. Neville is here to see you," Quieter, to him this time, she smiled "Go on dear," A soft hand on his back lulled him further into the room. Then it was gone, and she was flitting about the room in an effort to tidy up, and he was ten feet from his mother.

She had looked up now, full brown eyes seeing Neville and everything around him in one go. Some days were clearer than others. Neville smiled, nerves shaking the corners of his mouth unsurely. He took the seat opposite of her, and she didn't seem to mind. There was a chessboard on the table. "…Hi Mum," He ventured, "I…uh," she had gone back to scratching the pot, "uh…I brought you some candy," He had. Some multicolored taffy that he'd found in a candy store's 'muggle' section. Neville dug into his cloak pockets with shaky fingers, and pulled out a handful of slightly squished taffy. His mother was looking again now, and the edges of her eyes were crinkling in the way a smiling person's do. Neville smiled back, and set the Taffy on the table between them. The woman had almost instantly reached for one, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth.

She hummed out something that could have once been a thank you, " r'welcome mum," Neville shifted in his seat. Tabitha had disappeared sometime during the exchange. The candy was hardly a new occurrence for the two. She liked candy, and he was happy that she seemed to like taffy too. She didn't like chocolate though –he had found out one time, somewhere near valentine's day. She had giggled when the chocolate flower bloomed, but had made a very disgruntled expression when one of the petals met her tongue. She liked anything jelly though, from every flavor beans to animal chews. Neville enjoyed bringing her candy, if only to learn m

ore about her and sneak a quick smile.

The chess board was new, Neville was sure. For lack of anything else to do, Neville began setting the pieces upright. His mom hummed when she joined in. She set the pieces at random. On the lines and upside down. Neville laughed slightly, and decided to play along. Both sides were made up of a mismatch of pieces. His mom had even stacked a couple atop each other. She was smiling now, her cheeks stretching at the little used expression.

Her hand went for another Taffy. Neville might have told her about his month. But there was hardly anything to say. It was the summer holidays, and after the events of the previous year everything else seemed completely moot. The tournament had been a tangle of dragons and feuds and mazes and Cedric was dead. And Voldemort was back.

It was hard to top that.

"Neville…"

Neville's head shot towards the voice. It was his mom. But that didn't make sense. His mom sat there though. Her face holding the same blankness that it ever did. Neville bit down on his lip, hard. He'd imagined it –he was going crazy –then his mother's face was flooded.

"You were so little…" Her eyes were watering. Her mouth stretching in the kind of smile that was both happy and so incredibly sad. It was the most emotion Neville had ever witnessed from her.

"M-mom?" The woman's hands were working quickly with the candy in her hands, fiddling and tapping at it.

"So tiny…so big now….how old are you, Neville?" Her brown eyes were fixed on him, truly looking at him –and only him.

"F-fifteen. M-mum?" Was he shaking? He thought he was shaking.

"Oh Neville…"The smile disappeared, but returned again a moment later, "you were so tiny…you know…Frank said he didn't tuck you in…" He wasn't just shaking, he was quaking, "you did it…such a strong little boy…tucking yourself in…" He opened his mouth to say something, but it caught in his throat like a bad hex. She reached out a hand towards him instead. Her arm brushed the chess pieces, toppling over a couple, and her hand retreated, "strong little boy…"

"I-I-M-mum," He took in a rough breath, "I-I'm getting a nurse m-mum, S-stay there!" Neville stumbled over his own two feet. And the feet of the chair. He didn't bother feeling embarrassed this time, instead turning down the hallway. It was funny, how Tabitha seemed to be in front of him before he was in front of her.

"Neville? What's wrong deary?" She steadied him with a soft grip on his arm, and Neville nodded. A fast, jerky motion, that went on for a bit too long.

"I-It's M-mum. She –she was talking. She _remembered_ me,"

The nurse's eyes widened. She was down the hall at twice the speed Neville had gone. The door was still open from Neville's brisk exit. He was at the nurse's heels, nearly at her side.

He was glad for that a moment later. He didn't have to see his Mom's face when she jumped the nurse as soon as the two entered the room. Angry and snarling and screeching in twisted agony. She sounded like a cornered animal. And her eyes mirrored her panic, her limbs flying every way they could.

Tabitha had lost a chunk of hair in the debacle.

Once his mom had been calmed down, set to sleep on the bed, Tabitha had turned to him with a sympathetic smile. "This happens on occasion. Patients who have been…" She paused, pursing her lips together, "…been through something like your mother has…they'll sometimes have small periods of coherency. Think of it like a relapse of sorts. It rarely means anything."

Neville wilted. He had thought- "I'm sorry Neville," Another steadying hand was on him, "You should go home, spend some time with your grandma. I'm sure she could use some company,"

His grandma was out shopping for the day, but that's not what Neville said. In fact, he didn't say anything at all. He emptied out the last of the taffy from his pockets and left it on the table. He offered a small polite smile to Tabitha, and ducked out of St. Mungos with a bowed head. Nobody would be able to see his wobbling lips or watery eyes.

There wasn't anyone at home, as expected. And the emptiness of the house was a welcome solitude. But there were letters on the windowsill. One was from his friend Ginny, and the other from his great Uncle Algie. Thinking about anything but his distressing visit, the teen slipped into the sitting room. It was a large room with lots of furry drapes and rich greens. The only seats were large, lush, loveseats.

Neville sat on the rug instead.

 _Hello Neville,_

 _You know, you really should write more. It's very boring here. I'm stuck with Ron and the Twins mostly. It's truly horrible! We're not even at the burrow. I can't tell you where we are, but there's always stuffy people coming and going. It has to do with the end of last year, I know. But enough about that. How are you? It must be awfully lonely there as well. I can't imagine there's much fun to be had with just you._

 _Have you finished the summer homework assignments yet? I have this essay in herbology that could use a looking over. And I thought since you're so good at it, and a year ahead of me –well, would you mind? Ron's hardly any help. Hermione showed up the other day as well. She'll be staying with us, I think._

 _She asked about you, so I offered to send any letters she has for you. Expect some soon, I suppose. Hope you're well,_

 _Ginny._

Neville smiled at his redheaded friend. She was confident and brave and heard, and everything a Gryffindor should be. And he…he was sitting on a rug made out of wild dog furs in his grandmother's sitting room on a Saturday afternoon. If there was a word for the opposite of Gryffindor, that would be exactly how he felt at the moment. Uncle Algie's letter was crinkled, and just a bit torn. But that was how he had always sent his letters. Neville might have wondered why, except he'd met the man.

Algie was a worn and withered thing, much like a walking version of his grandmother's favorite handbag. He was just as ancient, anyways. Knobby knees always peeked out from his robes –though those robes had been dresses on occasion. The man was completely untouched by anything anyone could think up, it seemed. He made a habit of walking around completely barefoot, and rarely seemed to be able to distinguish between wizarding folk and muggles. Uncle Algie hopped from place to place like a wild rabbit, and never sent a letter from the same town twice. This one seemed to have been sent from a coastal town in the Netherlands.

 _Neville!_

 _Neville, Neville, Neville! My dearest Nephew! One day I'll be taking you along with me. I've seen the strangest things these past few weeks. There was a chicken who could sing in a pub a few towns back. The bartender, nice young thing, sang along with it. You should ask your grandmother to sing! She hasn't in years, and I'd wager you're the only one with a shot at getting her to ever again. Not sure if she's any good. But we may as well find out!_

 _I have a shack now! There was a rather friendly young couple who wanted to sell a small house, and I says to them, I'm interested in buying, and we have a looksie. But when I got there it was hardly what I expected. No, it was greater! A full shack, I could live here for months! So I says to them, no no, this isn't at all what you said it was, this is a shack, I'll take it for sure. So now here I am, in a small shack, barely a ten minute walk from the sea._

 _I've made many new friends here –most live quite a walk away though. However, one lives here with me. He's a strange thing, a ball of energy he is. I found him on the shore, out like he had swallowed an entire vial of Draught of Living Death. Cold as the dead too, he was. But, a bit of magic and he's good as new. He's always up and about now, running off until I can't see him anymore, and then back again once I've turned around. You'd like him, Neville, he gets into as much trouble as your friends do._

 _Speaking of trouble, how're you and your friends? I hope you know they're all holed up in a little secret hide away. Probably scheming about the recent pest problem. You should help, you're very good at that. Not scheming. Helping._

 _I'll see you soon, I think. I'll be visiting sometime, before we head East. I say we, but I'm not entirely sure if my new friend will want to come along. I can't exactly force him, can I?_

 _-Your best Uncle, Algie_

Neville folded the letter up, and dug through a couple cabinets before returning to the rug, the intention of writing replies at hand. The letter to Ginny was easy enough. Tell Ron and Hermione he said hello, of course he'd help with her essay, and he would be happy to get letters from Hermione too. Uncle Algie was a bit difficult to reply to. He always left very little room for comments. What could he say about a singing chicken? He didn't want to be rude…

" _You should help, you're very good at that. Not scheming, helping,"_ Neville flinched at that. He did everything but help. He only made things worse. Even today, when he had seen his mother –

" _Strong little boy..._ " Neville curled his fingers into the carpet. It wasn't true. Why did people keep saying things like that? While Hermione, Ron, and Harry were always off saving the day –he had just been there, watching. How could they think he was strong, when he was always the weakest in the room? Even last year –with the tournament. All he had done, was give Dobby some gillyweed for Harry in the second task. That had been all. It wasn't even his idea, and-

" _I have this essay in herbology that could use a looking over. And I thought since you're so good at it, and a year ahead of me –well, would you mind?"_ …and he wanted to help. Neville really, really wanted to help. But what if he messed it up? What if he only made everything worse? They all already seemed to think that he could help…maybe…

Would it be so wrong to try and prove them right?

Neville uncurled his fingers from the rug, and reached for another piece of parchment. He had letters to write, after all.

 _Heyo! So this is the rewrite of the original chapter two. The main change was that I combined the original second chapter and the original chapter three, since the two had similar ish themes. Other than that, all the changes made were very minor and nothing too noticeable. I feel like originally, my tart with this story as very strong, so most of my changes will be in the coming chapters. Thanks for sticking with me you guys!_


	3. Lost Judgement

When he had opened his eyes, it had been because of a steady drop of water landing on his nose. He twitched, and wiped the water away. His nose was chilly and cold, and that was his only excuse when he was jettisoned straight up from a powerful sneeze. He sneezed a second time too, though he was already sitting, so it was admittedly far less satisfying. The...place thingy was dark as well. But not the sort of solid, honest darkness of night. Instead it was a sort of intrusive discomforting darkness -the light had simply been locked out.

Naruto was not liking this at all.

It made sense, seeings as he was in some sort of room. Or rather, chamber. With cracked grey stone, turned black and green by _gurgling_ mold. The ceiling arched inwards like a predators mouth, shafts of frayed stone stuck mid-crumble to the floor. There was only one window, which perched itself to the side- not even big enough for him to fit a foot through. And on the outside was a dim grey light, which did remarkably little in soothing the room. It was more of a hole in the wall, really. On the other side of this hole in the wall, were bars. Caked in rust and the same stubbly mold.

Oh. Oooooh. This wasn't a room at all.

It was a cell.

Greaaat.

"Damn it," The blonde growled, pacing the length of the room. His limbs were creaky from the cold, which somehow managed to be on more than just his nose. His jumpsuit had been taken, the bright orange replaced with stiff, canvas, drapes. He scratched his head over the dripping off the gaping ceiling. It hadn't taken long for the memories of the past days to come rushing back, and damn he really just wanted some ichiraku's right about now...sqlch...that…

Naruto grimaced, lifting his foot steadily up from the ground. They had taken his shoes...and now that odd mold was best buddies with the crevices of his toes. Joy.

"GAH! Let me out of here, damn it!" Naruto paced over to the door, scraping his contaminated foot along the way, "You assholes got another thing comin' to ya if you think this place will keep me locked up!" His hands swung into the familiar sign, and he pushed chakra forward- except- He didn't. It was a weird sensation, like pushing against a wall that wasn't there. Likewise, Naruto was sent stumbling forwards, straight into the bars.

They didn't like that much though, and didn't feel like holding up his weight, as they creaked once before clattering apart, and Naruto was very suddenly and ungraciously sprawled across the floor outside the cell, with a rusted rod lodged up in his chest.

Well, he was out of the cell now.

"Shiiiiit!" Naruto cursed, rolling up onto his feet in a clatter of limbs. The metal had managed to get just between his ribs, and with a shuttering breath he realized it must have gotten the lung. He grasped the chilled metal with both hands, and pulled. It gave a proud squelch as it left, trailing a dark red that matched its decay. Naruto ran a now crimson hand through his tattered hair, "Hey Kurama, think ya can help out with this one?" His ribs were really warm now, thanks only to the blood, "And anyways, what's up with this place? You got any ideas?" he wiped his hands off on the bottom most tatters of the robe, "Kurama?" The canvas was sticking to his body anyways, "Kuraaamaaa?" He winced at that one, his chest cringing beneath his skin. Fuck, why wasn't it healing? Better yet, why wasn't Kurama healing it? "Yo, Kurama!"

There was a silence that greeted him, even more unwelcome than the cold and dark. He frowned, low and heavy, "...Kurama?" Grunting he slid to the ground, folding his legs and scrunching his eyes closed. Maybe the old fox was asleep, it probably had something to do with him not being able to reach his chakra. He'd just pop into- oh.

There, before the blond, in that scape that didn't really exist but was somehow very real, was emptiness. No walls, no water, not even bars or a seal. And definitely, definitely, not a Kurama. The fuck?

Naruto's hand had rested over his stomach, the trademark spot that he had connected to Kurama since he'd first found out about the fox. Now, pausing, listening, standing there, it felt -empty. Wrong. The space that had always been filled was suddenly gone, and it felt like a deflating balloon, like a missing limb, like one of his senses had just given out. Naruto choked out a breath. Kurama had always been there, even when he hadn't known he was. And this -this was just so wrong. Empty. How -why wasn't he here? It didn't make sense- The emptiness clawed towards Naruto, ebbing closer and rising like water. And for the first time since he and Kurama had become partners, Naruto truly felt afraid of what was happening.

"No…." He thrashed back, as it wrapped around him, "Kurama! Kurama I know you're here! Stop hiding!" It choked at his neck, and Naruto would blame that to the wetness that gathered in his eyes, "Kurama! It's not funny!" The emptiness, which moved so much more sinisterly, stretched at his limbs and scratched at his face, and Naruto wanted to move but he couldn't- and this wasn't a joke, was it?

Kurama wasn't there.

He was alone.

Something was really, really wrong.

The blonde forced his eyes open, "Kurama," Naruto choked out, pressure gone, but the words no easier. He was colder now, and the blond figured he must've been sitting there for a while. Body heat didn't really exist in this place, it seemed. There was no comfort in being back in the physical world. Numb fingers pressed to his side, it had been miraculously flooded in blood in the time he'd sat there. It didn't feel any closer to healing either.

He rasped out a long breath, and shifted back to breath easier. Kurama wasn't there. It seemed an impossible fact, impossible for him to wrap his mind around. And god it was cold.

Scrtch-scrt-scrtch-scrt- Naruto looked up, someone was making their way down the hallway. 'Making' was using the term generously- the man that trudged down the hall was barely making breaths, much less a good pace. His bare feet, wrapped loosely with torn bits of cloth, never left the ground, pushing perilously past stray pebbles and clumps of mold. He was slumped over, leaning heavily on the wall adjacent to the one Naruto had taken up. Greasy mats of dark hair fell to the man's shoulders, and his head was bowed in a prayer of despair.

It was a solemn pace, that stumbled only once, when the wall gave out. That was all it needed though, and the man's legs gave out from under him, he crumpled to a heap on the ground, eyes bleary but open. They peered out at Naruto from the mop of hair and he met them head on.

Those eyes held a weight, such a strong hopelessness that Naruto nearly felt it physically trying to drag him down. They weren't disturbed, so unphased by the prison that Naruto wondered if he knew where he was at all. But underneath that- underneath that thick glaze was something familiar. Something challenging.

"You're another poor sap, aren't ya?" The man coughed, not bothering to sit up, or even move the hair out of his face, "Just like the rest of this god forsaken place," Naruto frowned, "you new?" He turned his head slightly, revealing a nose and scruffy cheeks, "you bleeding already too?" The guy laughed, loud and taunting and humorless, "Good news mate! Aint got nothin to worry bout!" He rolled his head, and Naruto felt like growling, but he didn't quite know why, "We're already dead! Can't get worse from here!"

Naruto did growl, "Hey, you don't know anything! I'm not dead yet!" He kicked himself. Damn, he'd get out of here. No way was he sticking around! He'd figure this mess out, just like always! He- "I'm Naruto Uzumaki! No way am I dead! I'm still better off than your sorry ass!" And he grinned madly at the guy.

It seemed to work, in some way. The guy's eyes widened a bit, and then he twitched, before he moved to clumsily drag himself to his feet. He stumbled over to the blond, and leered over him. One grime encrusted finger reached out and poked his side, "Not with that, you aren't," He laughed again, just as loud and scorning, though it lacked the same hollowness that it had held before, "What happened to you mate? Already dying in this shithole?"

"Hey! Like something like this is gonna stop me!" But despite his words, a strong poke to the wound had him doubling over in a wet cough, "Hey, stop that!" He swatted the man's hands away. When had he gotten that close? The man huffed, and swatted back.

"You're gonna bleed out, mate," He pushed the blond onto his back before the kid could process his movement. Though the man had a hunch that the kid could probably sit back up if he really wanted to. Instead the blond blinked up at the guy. It didn't do much to clear his wavering vision anymore. Oh yeah. Without his regeneration, that much blood loss probably wasn't good. He was second guessing his decision to pull out that rod now, "Stay down, then. Not any good moving anymore," The guy mumbled, more under his breath than to Naruto. He fiddled with his own canvas robes, identical to the one Naruto wore. Ripping at the ends until long strips were torn off. The material was so flimsy, it didn't seem to take much strength at all. A good thing, seeing as the man was one wrong lean from falling over again, "Naruto, you said?" The man voiced a little louder this time, and the blond gave a grunt, in answer to both the question and the man's hands moving to press on the hole in his side. "Sirius," The guy gave. Naruto snorted that time. Stupid name. Especially for a guy who smelt so like a dog. He'd give the guy some props though,at the least he wouldn't bleed out. Probably. "Oi, shutup,"

"You shutup, Inu," Like hell he'd be calling the dog-man 'Sirius' any time soon.

Sirius's graveled voice filtered lowly through the room, "I'm fine Moony, but I have an idea,"

Ginny Weasley waved at her brothers. Naturally, they were arguing. Fred and George, standing on either side of Ron, both with matching expressions of smugness. Ron was spouting some indignant rebuttal, face a shade off from his hair "Guys," She hushed, pulling at Ron's sleeve. Ron brushed her hand away, and shot the twins an irritated look. His arms crossed over his chest. Ginny didn't bother figuring out what they were saying, "Guys," came the sharp hiss, "they're saying something _important_ ,"

"Why didn't you-"

"-say so, little sister?" The twins had snatched the extendable ear out of her hands mid-sentence.

"Hey!" She yelped slightly, reaching for it again, "give it here!" She had been the only one listening through all the boring stuff, after all –she should get to hold it!

"Not so fast-"

"-sister of mine-"

"-let us do-"

"-the honors," With a wave of a wand, and a slight celery like smell, the conversation happening two floors below was broadcasted for the room to hear.

"-you mean back when you were in prison?" The voice that filtered through belonged to Tonks –one of the newer and nicer faces of the order.

"Yes, back in Azkaban." That one was Sirius, slightly rough and very ragged. Though strong none the less, "there was a man there-"

"I assume there were many men there, Black. But we did not come here to hear about your many affections," Snape cut the man off. At least one other order member had smothered a snicker at that. The animosity between Sirius and Snape was no mystery. In fact, it was entertaining most days, if the amusement in the twin's eyes was anything to go by. Ron had mumbled something along the lines of 'greasy git'.

There was a fuss on the other end of the ear. Hermione had appeared in the doorway though, a disapproving frown on her face. "Hermione! You're just in time, we're listening to the meeting-"

"-which is wrong for so many reasons! You can't just listen in on important things like this!" The girl moved into the room, "what if this kind of information leaked out? Lives could be at stake!" Hermione was sitting on the bed with them now, "there's a reason they don't want us to listen, they are the adults after all. You all should respect that!" She finished with a solid huff. There was a sort of silence for a moment, save for the jumbled conversation coming from the ear.

"Hermione…" the girl's gaze swiveled around to Ron's. It was a challenging sort of look. Ron gestured helplessly to the ear, "…we're going to listen now,"

Hermione gave a single nod. She most definitely didn't move from her seat, "I do _not_ condone this,"

"… _bloody crazy_ ," Ron mumbled, eyebrows furrowing at the frizzy haired girl.

The conversation in the meeting was picking up again, "listen, this guy, he could help us,"

"Guy?" Hermione asked the others.

Ron nodded, "Some bloke Sirius met in Azkaban,"

"A man you met in Azkaban?" Molly Weasley stepped in. Sounding scandalized would have been a severe understatement, "You can't honestly be suggesting-"

"-I am!" Sirius barked, "he could help us against you-know-who!"

"Lad, I'm well aware you should have never been in Azkaban in the first place –but most who end up in there are all the same breed-" Moody grunted, "-it's not something the order can trust,"

"But we can!" Sirius insisted, voice raised slightly, "you don't get it, he...he shouldn't have been in there!"

"Sirius, you must understand, those who end up in Azkaban do not do so lightly –this man could very well be a death eater himself-" Shacklebolt was cut off very suddenly, and Ron and Hermione were reminded of the way Sirius's jet black eyes burned like hot embers when pushed the wrong way.

"He's very set on this man, isn't he?" Ginny mumbled in the silence. The others nodded along, not really looking at her. They were all following a similar train of thought. What help could he be after all?

"Like me, right?" Sirius's voice was scathing. A slab of molten hot metal in a pool of ice water. Shacklebolt didn't say anything back. No one did. Sirius had issued a silent challenge to the room, and no one had taken it. His voice was much more subdued when he spoke next, "I have no idea why he was in Azkaban. But he was something else. I saw it first hand at least a dozen times. This guy, he scared the dementors,"

The extendable ear had picked up even the slight rustle of clothes, and the sharp intakes of breath.

"That's not possible…" Ron fussed, looking between his brothers, Ginny, and Hermione, "that's _not bloody_ possible!" His fingers twitched, "right?"

"Ha! That's funny, lad! Dementors are scared of no man-"

"-except this one," The ex-prisoner's voice was lined with steel, "He was the only one that the Dementors never touched,"

"That would be quite an impressive feat," Dumbledore tuned in. He had been silent for a while now. But even the four teens could hear the intrigue that clung to his comment. There was nothing in his tone that dismissed Sirius's claim, "but should it be true, how would we know that this man would side with us? My concern…lies with the possibility that such a power could land in the hands of Voldemort,"

There was a small rustling of cloth, "…I trust him," Sirius said finally, voice low and steady, "he…he helped me escape that place. He was –is, my friend,"

"Wait, I thought he had gotten out on his own!" Ron cried, "How did this bloke get him out?"

"More importantly, why?" Hermione spoke up, "and if he could escape, why didn't he leave with Sirius?"

"Maybe he had better things to do-"

"-death eater things to do," The twins chimed their turn, bouncing the bed slightly.

"Sirius wouldn't trust a death eater," Ginny huffed, eyes rolling.

A scoff from the ear punctuated her statement, though for the wrong reasons, "You can't honestly believe this, Headmaster. Black is delusional. Azkaban is hardly filled with clear minds," Snape's slithering voice had skirted its way into the conversation.

"Sirius is _not_ delusional!" That one was Professor Lupin, sounding just as offended as Hermione and Ron felt.

"Ah, yes," Snape had snorted again. His voice was slimy and smooth and left a bad taste in their mouths, "he's only buying into his own hallucinations," A chair screeched along the wooden floor. There were a couple people standing now, she was sure, "it's not as if poor judgement put him into azkaban in the first place," Snape scathed, sarcasm dripping from his words like basilisk venom.

"Severus, I think that'll be enough," Dumbledore's voice, old and curling at the edges, was less warm that it had been moments before. It cut down Snape's next comments like an axe to a tree. There was a beat following the crash, "Now, are there any more- ah, yes, Molly. I would expect no less," The warmth was back again, and the teens could practically hear his smile and shining eyes.

"It's the kids. If we were to honestly consider this man into the order, well," She huffed, "To expect this man to come into the order –to this place," The redhead's of the room exchanged a knowing look. Their mom was beginning to worry, "how will we know the children are safe? What if-" There was a small click when she clamped her mouth shut.

"Ah, yes, the children. That's not to say an invitation into the order would be the next step at all, Molly."

Ginny shifted. There was a knowing inflection in how he said that. It could have been directed toward her mother, having expected such a worry from the red head. Or it could have been directed towards them. And their extendable ear. Ginny was inclined to believe the latter.

"I suggest, before taking any action to free the man, we first visit the ministry to find why he was imprisoned in the first place. Should he be mistakenly there, as Sirius suggests, we can then approach the problem of freeing him," There was a considering moment, "Is this suitable for everyone?"

"Yes, yes," Sirius nodded quickly. Apparently, the Black was confident in his previous claims about the man. His agreement was followed by several, more reluctant and slow to arrive, confirmations.

"Wonderful!" Dumbledore sounded both pleased and excited, "perhaps we should wrap this meeting up, then?"

Almost immediately, George and Fred were pulling the thread that connected the ears, fingers working with practiced speed. George had twirled his wand again, and the spell faded. Ginny could hear the faint snippets of a forming plan to get the ministry's information on the man, just before it cut out completely. The cancelling of the spell caused a waft of cinnamon scent to thread through the room.

"I can't believe it," Ron sounded astonished, "Dumbledore is actually going for this bloke-"

"-maybe," Hermione cut him off. Her chin was rested in her hand, eyes not really looking at anybody, "Dumbledore doesn't quite trust them either. But he's willing to give it a shot. But that's not the point-"

"You're right! Dumbledore is planning a bloody prison break! That's the point!"

"No, Ron, the point is, what happens if he _is_ supposed to be in Azkaban?"

"What do you mean what happens? We leave him there!"

Hermione sighed, and turned to face Ginny. She had an expression that pleaded for Ginny to know what she was getting at. The redhead shifted slightly, "well…if he really can do what Sirius said…scare off dementors…he'd be pretty powerful," She hummed, she didn't like where her train of thought was heading, "and if the order doesn't find the right information, and this guy really does turn out to be evil...they wouldn't want that falling into the hands of you-know-who…"

"Exactly!" Hermione jumped, turning back to Ron, "So what happens if he really is dark? The order doesn't want You-know-who to have a person like that on his side!"

"So what you're saying-"

"-is that it doesn't matter if this guy is with us-"

"-or with the death eaters-"

"-the order will want to break him out-"

"-and the information-"

"-is just so the order-"

"-knows how to talk to the guy."

George ended the exchange on a low whistle. Hermione nodded in confirmation, "Precisely,"

Ginny wilted while Ron groaned, "Great. This is ridiculous. All of it," All of the redheads hummed an agreement. Hermione's face was twisted into a small frown. She was unsettled about where the conversation downstairs had ended. With a sigh, she stood.

"I'm going to bed. Night, Ginny, Ron,"

"Goodnight, love you too, sweet Hermione!" The twins yelled after her, hands over their hearts in mock hurt, that they had been ignored by the brunette, "You'll be forever in our thoughts!"

Ginny smacked their arms, "Lay off," The redhead stood, "I'm going to bed too. C'mon Ron," She grabbed his arm, and he squawked slightly as she drug him from the room.

Her brother twisted his arm from her grip, halfway to his room, "Ginny, if this guy does end up staying here…" He bit his lip, "I don't want you anywhere near him. I don't trust this,"

Ginny narrowed her eyes, "What? We don't even know this guy's name Ron!"

"It shouldn't matter! He's been in Azkaban,"

"You trust Sirius!"

"This is different and you know it! Not even dementors can get to him! That's dark, and I don't want you anywhere near someone like that,"

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Whatever, I'm going to bed Ron. And you're being an idiot. I swear, you know your mind about someone before you even know their first name,"

The younger ducked into her room, ignoring his scrambled protests, and locked the door behind her. She was sharing a room with Hermione, and the brunette was sitting on the bed, reading a book. Ginny wasn't sure if the brunette had heard her come in, but she wasn't going to interrupt the other girl. Instead, she shuffled to the desk near a large portrait of a Kraken. The underwater creature blinked at her, and waved as she sat down. Ginny smiled slightly, waving back. She really should name it one of these days.

Its tentacles wrapped and twisted around the edges of the picture, and one lifted to point down on the desk. Sure enough, a pair of letters sat there. Another from Harry. And one from Neville.

The letter from Harry was addressed to Hermione, so Ginny opened the drawer of the desk, where she set it with all the rest of the unopened envelopes. Some had been read, Ginny was sure, but after a while Hermione had stopped –knowing she wasn't allowed to reply had made it that much more difficult for the poor girl to read them. Neville's was addressed to her though, so she happily opened the envelope.

 _Dear Ginny,_

 _It's been boring here too, like you said. Of course I'll help you with your herbology assignment. I think I'm awfully useless over here. I'm not doing much of anything. Not that I'd be much more useful over there. But at least I'd be doing something. I know you're up to important things, with Ron and Hermione, and I'd really like to help, if I could. With the herbology essay too of course._

 _-Your friend, Neville_

Ginny blinked. That was….completely un-Neville like, "Hey, Hermione," The brunette looked up, only to have the letter shoved in her face a moment later, "read this," Ginny had a soft spot in her heart for the boy, as shy as he was, he was a far greater friend than he gave himself credit for. And, thinking back to the photo she had spied on the wall of the old order, something told Ginny that Dumbledore would pull a few strings for the boy.

It had been years, the blond thought. And Naruto could scarcely recall his first few days in Azkaban, having been a blur of nauseous pain and cold realizations. Even his first meeting with sirius, blurred around the edges like an old photo in his memory. He could recall humorless laughter from the dog-man, and probing at his abdomen. At some point, he surely blacked out. And when he woke for a second time, it was in a pool of his own blood, a hole in his side messily stitched up with fishing wire, and no Inu.

Naruto's next few years in Azkaban wouldn't see much change from such. Waking up in Azkaban was sufferingly monotone.

This time though, when Naruto opened his eyes he greeted bright, warm, glorious sunlight. It filtered through a lightly dusted window, large enough for all of Naruto to fit through- wasn't that a refreshing thought? And he was warm- warm! Something he had never managed in Azkaban, and a happy opposition from the wallowing cold of the sea. Yeah, as it had turned out, that thin tunnel had led straight to the sea. He was thrashed around, and hit his head at least twice in his venture of being flushed out- but he had managed to make it out from under the large rock formation that the prison was built on. Which wasn't nearly as much of a good thing as it sounded to be. The sea that surrounded Azkaban was very good at crushing puny humans beneath its grasp.

It had been years ago that Naruto had last seen a proper way off the island. A fishing boat about half a mile off from Azkaban. He supposed whatever tricks the island used to keep people from coming too close hadn't worked that well on that ship. He had helped Sirius escape back then, knowing the poor man probably wouldn't have another chance to catch a ride to shore before he fully lost his sanity. Naruto wasn't as fortunate. Well, about the ride bit. Not the sanity.

Lack of chakra had left Naruto with only the option to swim the entire distance. It was wet, it was cold, and Naruto had no desire to ever do it again. It had quite literally taken an entire day, and half of that had been with numb toes and a headache worthy of Sakura's punches _._ The blond had unwillingly made it a priority to fall asleep the moment he touched land. This plan did not factor in the incoming tide.

It seemed in the end, that it didn't need to. Where he sat was something far from the beachside, or bottom of the ocean. In fact, it was plush. Very plush. An arm chair? An arm chair, no less located in a small, cozy little room. There was a bed covered in a heavy quilted blanket, a small fireplace that crackled lowly, and off to the side-a set of wooden kitchenware over an iron stove. The floor was draped at all angles with mismatched rugs, but other than that, the room itself was strangely sparse -save for a few plants and jugs here and there. Naruto shifted a bit looking around the room. A clock ticked on the wall to his right, and Naruto wiggled his toes beneath an overly furry blanket.

It wiggled back.

Then grew a pair of bulbous, watery eyes.

"Gah!" Naruto spilled out of the chair, tumbling away from the blanket, "What the hell!?" The-the thing tumbled out of the chair after the blond, and he screeched again tripping over an upturned corner of a rug and onto the floor. His fall was met with a face. New to him, but undeniably old. Crinkled around the edges, with apple cheeks and a bulb for a nose, and frayed white hair that spiked up in every which direction like some mad scientist. It grinned at him, with gapped teeth and pink gums.

"You didn't expect me to give ya the bed, didya!?"

 _Hey guys! So minor changes on this chapter as well. The content on this one used to be the old chapter four and five, and there are really only some smaller changes. Chapter five was the last chapter I wrote that I truly enjoyed writing and reading, so there's probably going to be some bigger changes coming up. My main goal here was a smooth read._

 _How is your day going?_


	4. Sirius-ly

_And life goes on. Hope it's going well on your end! Hope you guys Enjoy!_

There were three things that Sirius was aware enough to comprehend at the given moment in time. One, that Molly Weasley sat across the table with a disapproving frown that made him feel unpleasantly like a small child again. Two, every red head that wasn't Molly Weasley was looking at him with eyes so saturated in curiosity he was astounded they could blink. And three? Well, he had little doubt about the two both being connected to his conversation with The Order. How the younger found out about it- well, he supposed that was inevitable anyways.

He swallowed down the cider in his cup, with a record breaking two gulps. The redheads watched, and he returned with steady eye contact. The room was stiff with silence, Molly's shoulders drawn straight across the back of her chair. Sirius swiped at a stray hair, patted his chest, and let loose the mother- no, the kick ass grandma of all burps. It ended in a crooked grin,and he was very sure that James was clapping in his grave at that one.

Judging by Molly's look, he was soon to join Prongs in that venture. Her cheeks flushed a rosy hue, and her lips pursed, "Manners!" It wasn't a _shriek_ per se. But it was about as close as Molly could get without the children being able to accuse the portly woman of one. From behind, the twins beamed in glee, and both let out burps of a similar caliber. The woman's curls were stood on end, and her hands swatted at the two, "Scoundrels the lot of you! Out, get out!" The twins danced along the floor and around her urging.

"Mother dear-"

"-Forge and I simply replied in kind-"

"-to our dear friend, Sirius"

" _Out!_ " She swung the dining room door open.

"Gee mum-"

"wouldn't think you'd be so rude-"

"-to our kind host-"

"- _Sirius_ -ly,"

" _You-_ " She puffed up like a feathered pillow. And this pillow seemed ready to burst, " _Out! Out! Out of my kitchen you scoundrels!_ " She swatted at the two, chasing the twins out of the room with a vengeance. The bystanders- or rather, any who were laughing, were next, and before Sirius could call out the name for the shade of red Molly's face had turned- he had joined them.

"S'not a kitchen mum, It's a dining room!" Ron called, with lopsided cheek.

" _Ron!_ " Ginny snapped the boy across the arm, causing the elder to jump.

"Hey!" He rubbed the sore spot. He was sure there would be a bruise there by tomorrow, "Well, looks like one of us inherited Mum's- _Ow!_ "

Sirius laughed, glancing back at the door for a second time. Had he just been kicked out of his own dining hall? Well, he made himself comfortable along the wall either way. Merlin knew how many times he'd been kicked out by his 'family' before for any number of reasons alongside his mere existence -these circumstances were much more welcome , "I don't think it's just your Mum, all women have scary strength when we men get stupid," Likewise, Ginny huffed, crossing her arms across her chest. Sirius laughed again. "It's good to have you kids around. This place could use some of your energy,"

"But of course-"

"-Ol' chap!" The closer of the twins slapped Sirius in the back, with a too wide grin that probably definitely meant they were trying to be obnoxious. He rolled his eyes at the two, though even he had to acknowledge the sneaking grin that eased onto his face.

"Down to business though, don't think I missed those looks in there," He crossed his arms, doing his very best to channel all non-existant parenting-disapproval, "You lot listened in on the meeting, and are curious now too, arent ya?"

The red heads froze, not daring to even breath in front of him, "Why old boy!" One of the twins picked up.

"Where ever would you get an idea like that?"

Sirius grinned a look that would have made the marauders proud. "Sure, sure, so I guess that means you _don't_ want to know more…?" he started leaning his way back into the kitchen. He might have made it too, if not for the several pairs of hands that caught him and drug him back.

"No! -I mean -um -they never tell us anything...and it seems pretty important..and-" Sirius barked out a laugh, and patted the top of the girl's red head.

"Important? Sure...see, I met the bloke in Azkaban. He was probably seventeen or eighteen back then, would've been oh...three years ago now? He was a real funny guy, and in a place like azkaban...you don't see people like him. Merlin knows how he ended up in there, but he really didn't fit in with the rest. Never started losing his mind like the rest of em. But it was odd"

"He was only eighteen? What can a bloke do to get sent to azkaban that young?" Ron mumbled, though not quite quiet enough to go unheard.

"Never asked," Sirius shrugged, "Never really needed to...he was a good pal either way. Can't imagine a guy like him kicking a puppy, much less being a death eater. He used to build fires for the other prisoners on nights it rained, and he kept a lot of them company after the dementors had made a visit."

"Wait, fires in prison?" Ginny halted, face contorting uncomfortably at the slip.

"Heh," Sirius ruffled the side of his head with one hand, "Azkaban's not like any prison you'd imagine it to be. It's worse that that. You see, when a place like Azkaban is made, with walls as high as the sky, in a place no one can find unless they already know where it is, surrounded by raging ice cold waters, and countless magical barriers- what's the point of monitoring a place like that? Azkaban is left to it's own devices -and with the dementors, no one has the presence of mind to try and think around the prison anyways. Once our wand's are snapped, we're dumped in there, and that's the end of it."

There was a still silence at the new revelation. Something heavy had fallen in the red head's lap at that new revelation. That such a place existed- Ginny didn't want to try to imagine, and oh -even the twins were shocked.

"Oh! You said-" Ginny clamped a hand over her brother's mouth

"I did say, didn't I?" Sirius bowed his head, grinning in remembrance, though it wasn't completely happy. His eyes had glazed over not long into the story, "The guy scared the pants off dementors. Don't know why or how, but they never went near him,"

"That _has_ to be some seriously powerful dark magic," Ron hissed over to his sister. Ginny hissed back, and slapped Ron across his arm.

"Shutup, Ron!"

Sirius jolted at the accusation, but not in any sort of anger. It had snapped him back to reality, and he was tapping his chin, as if he was seriously considering the idea of his friend using forbidden magic.

"Maybe," He conceded, "But keep in mind, all us prisoner's wands were snapped before going into azkaban." He met Ron's eyes levelly, "Now, you tell me what spell works better than a patronus, and can be cast without a wand, because dark or not, that what he was doing" Ron's jaw had fell open, and with no small amount of satisfaction at the sight Ginny crossed her arms over her chest. "I think that'll keep you busy, right?" Sirius pat each of the twin's shoulders, "keep what ya know from the order members though, as a favor. You kids shouldn't be left in the dark, but not all of the members are ready to let you guys get involved," He smiled crookedly, "too late for that if you ask me, now c'mon," He led the way back into the dining room.

The red heads, lost in thought, followed with little hesitation. The old wooden table began to fill with hungry stomachs. Molly shot the group a suspicious look as they shuffled back in, but huffed when they were all somewhat mellow.

Soon, the table was being filled with pies and eggs and sausage.

"Help yourselves then, as long as you behave," The woman shot a look to her four youngest, and other than Ron's bowing head, she was unimpressed by the three puppy dog looks the other three shot her.

The door to the dining room creaked open again. The two who shuffled in were not redheads, thankfully. And Molly's wrath sizzled to an end at the sight. Instead, a pleased looking Hermione, and very unsure looking boy. Sirius was almost positive that he'd never seen the second's face before. Molly looked surprised as well.

"Oh!" The door snapped shut, the woman quickly bustling about to set a place for the newcomer, "Dumbledore mentioned a friend of Ginny's would be coming! Oh dear, how could I have forgotten?" Before the poor boy had even had a chance to sit down, a plate piled with her home cooked breakfast was handed to him, "What would you like to drink dear? Ginny didn't mention -oh, I haven't even introduced myself have I? I'm Ginny's mother, it's wonderful to see a new face around here-"

"Molly, dear," With another squeak, the door's hinges gave way, Arthur Weasley sliding his way into the room. The boy looked relieved that someone had paused the woman in her tirade of mother-ness, "I think you may be scaring the boy," He laughed.

The mother huffed, looking a bit ruffled, before shooting the startled boy a kind smile, "Sorry, dear. Here, why don't you take a seat, I'll go fetch some more cider,"

As she shuffled out, Tonks -one of the newer and brighter faces- filled the space. She must have come along with Arthur. The red haired man patted the boy's shoulder, "It's nice to have you, Neville right?"

"Y-yes sir," The boy nodded, being the last to take a seat. Ginny and Hermione were seated on either side of the boy. Neville was Alice and Frank's kid right? Sirius remembered them, and for some reason it didn't seem all that odd that Dumbledore had let the boy into the hide away. Not that he had been informed. At all. Something that did make his smile strain slightly. The table that once occupied only Sirius, now comfortably held ten though, so he wouldn't complain. Neville picked at his food, looking around at the unfamiliar faces, and eventually Sirius laughed. Something about that face reminded him so much of first year Remus. He always worried too much.

The door slid open for round three, and speak of the devil- Remus found his way into the dining room, sliding past the redheads. He paused for a moment, when his eyes caught Neville's. "Oh, Neville!" He smiled, thin but true, "It's good to see you, Neville," He pat the boy on the shoulder as he passed on his way to Sirius.

"It's good to have you then, Neville," The black haired man kicked back in his seat, clunking his feet onto the edge of the table. It was with many years of practice that he ignored Remus's scolding look.

The boy in question gave a shaky smile, and bit into breakfast. Sirius was secretly impressed that he didn't seem startled by a convicted criminal's presence. Ginny or Hermione must have filled him in on the actual story, but he was grateful that the kid seemed to take it in stride either way.

"A friend of Ginny's and Ron's is always welcome at the Weasley's, as well, Neville," Arthur acknowledged, and the pallid boy blushed slightly, nodding from the other side of a half full glass.

Sirius looked over at the red haired man, and then the smaller woman, spinning the cider in his cup with a finger, "You two aren't normally here this time of day…"

"Oh, yes," Arthur straightened in his seat. Tonks gulped down a piece of bacon, her shoulder drawn up like a deer in the headlights, "Of course, we're here on Dumbledore's request...as a follow up from...last night's conversation," The man withered under the look Molly shot him, and likewise, all of the children's heads shot up. He coughed into his hand, "Ah, Sirius, we were needing a name to look up…"

Sirius nodded slowly, "Naruto, the guy went by Naruto," Tonks was scribbling the name down on a napkin.

"Weird name, what about a last?"

"Uh, usumachi -or urubami -wait, that's it, Uzumaki. Yeah," Tonks added to the napkin, "Naruto Uzumaki," Sirius nodded, proud of remembering the weird ass name.

"Alright, thank you Sirius," Arthur smiled.

"Yup thanks dog-boy!" Tonk's cheeked, hair swishing to a teasing purple. Arthur kissed his wife on the way out. And Tonks knocked over an umbrella stand not a moment after the door swung closed, leaving a crotchety old portrait of Sirius's crotchety old mother to scream. In the commotion, Nobody really noticed the group of teens sneaking away and past a indignant Percy, on their way to one of their rooms.

Managing to leave right before the shouts could break their eardrums, Tonks smiled sheepishly over to Arthur.

"So now that we have the name, what do we do?" Tonks asked, waving the napkin in front of her face.

"Now we make a trip to the Ministry," Arthur pulled out his wand, "Dumbledore chose us for a reason-" Out slipped Remus, looking slightly ruffled from whatever shouting was going on inside. His shoulder's sagged as the shrieking voice ended with the closed door.

"Thank Merlin," He sighed, and looked to the two, "I'm going to accompany you...if that's alright,"

Tonks blinked, "What, why?"

"...Sirius and I have been friends for a long time" The man wrapped his coat tighter around his frame, and made his way own the stone steps, "sometimes he only sees people how he wants to. If the order is truly pursuing this Naruto person, I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure he doesn't get even one shot at Sirius," The wolf-man's eyes were fierce, and Arthur gulped down the breath he had forgotten to swallow, "Starting with getting as much information on him as I can from the Ministry's records," He smiled, though it didn't seem quite an genial as it had a few minutes prior.

Tonks breathed out slow, and picked up her shoulder's fast, "Well, if the man wants to come, the man wants to come!" She hooked arms with Remus, and the two were gone in a snap and flash of color, leaving Arthur in the street. The red haired man sighed, and wiped a hand down the side of his face, "Oh Molly...Dumbledore...what are we getting into?" Another flash and crack, and the man disappeared from the street as well.


	5. Jeffery

_Drum roll please!_

"You didn't expect me to give ya the bed, didya!?"

"Gah!" Naruto Whipped back, hitting his head harshly against the floor. He hissed through his teeth, but even that didn't stop the boy from glaring up at the man from a matt of hair. He was tensed, and ready to dart to the window, or throw that weird banket thing at the guy's face, or grab the teaspoon collection on the wall and utilize them as throwing kni- okay, so maybe he wasn't the best at planning things. That was more shikamaru's thing peered back over to the old man. What was that guy doing? The old coot had spun around after his tumble, and gone to shuffling about in the small kitchenette. The blanket eyed him warily, before slipping back up onto the bed, squirming and flowing like an octopus on land. It gave him one last severe glance before closing its eyes. Had he not seen it move a moment earlier, Naruto would have thought it just a normal, faux-fur blanket.

Then of course, it began snoring, and Naruto blanched.

"Well bondie?"

"Hu?" The man hadn't even stopped in his bustling. He tinkered with the stove, pulled out a clanking pot, and rusted around in the leaves of what looked like a miniature pear tree. Naruto suddenly felt very out of place sitting on the wooden floor. He scrambled to his feet, and frowned towards the old guy.

The old man very suddenly invaded his personal bubble, yet again. Their noses nearly brushing, as he stared into Naruto's blue eyes like one looked at an animal in the zoo, " _Weeeeell?_ "

Naruto inclined his head back a bit, and furrowed his brows, "me?"

"You!" The man cheered, and waved a hand in his vague direction, "You are the one in my house, I'd think! Very naked in my house too!" Naruto was slow to process, and even slower to look down. Sure enough. He burned bright red, and covered what he could while going for a purposely placed pile of clothes, arranged in the shape of a smiley face across the bed. They were odd clothes. Nothing he had seen anyone back home wear. With buttons all up the front and stitching in weird places- most notably, places that made it hard to move completely. The pants were stiff too, made out of a thick material he didn't recognize. But they were still leagues better than the tatters he had worn in azkaban. Naruto tugged at the collar of the shirt, eyes wandering back over to the old man. He had been twirling around and back again, rustling plant leaves and setting fire to small pots, "Found you on the shore ya know! Nearly dead you were. Funny that. Haven't found a nearly-dead one in a decade!" The man swished around, a dark red and black bath robe trailing behind. It was untied, and Naruto was pretty sure the guy was wearing a nightgown underneath. It took a moment for the man's words to process into his head.

Then a massive grin bloomed across his face, "YEAH! Ha! Take that! I did it! Eat it Inu!" He cheered, feeling the happiest he had been since arriving in this strange world, and the most accomplished since two years prior when he had managed to hep Inu escape. He could actually _do_ something now. He could find a way _back home_. He nearly felt like crying at the thought.

He settled for lunging for the old man instead. Wrapping the old guy in a bone crushing hug, that might have been cute if he were seven years younger. "Thanks Old Man! You're the best! Things are gonna get better now!" He was yelling in excitement. And the noise was enough to wake the blanket-thing. He knew for sure, because it was suddenly on his face with enough force to send him to the ground.

It was making a weird tittering growl, "Agh! Old man! Call your blanket off!" Oh, it was definitely trying to smother him. He managed to grab it around one eye-bulb, and hold it at arm's length, but the furs of the blanket were able to grab at his chin and nose. He shook it slightly, and it got much angrier, the edges of it rippling and thrashing like angry tentacles

The man hummed tapping the counter with a weathered finger. The blanket slipped out of Naruto's grasp and back onto his face just when the man seemed to come to a decision, "Jeffery, leave the poor boy alone, would you please?"

The blanket's name was Jeffery. And as soon as Jeffrey the blanket decided it didn't want to kill him as badly, Jeffrey slinked off back to its perch on the bed, watching Naruto with a wary intelligence that Naruto would expect from a shinobi, not a duvet. Naruto glared back. He didn't like the thing anyways. There were weird things here. Lots of them. Especially the pile of flying door handles in the corner, squeaking out bird like tweets with every twist. A vine growing along a windowsill nipped at his hair with a humanoid mouth, and the shinobi scooted away, flicking it in the other direction.

"Oi, stop hurting my things," The old guy tutted.

"They want to eat me!" Naruto protested.

"Stop being edible then!"

"Wha- how am I supposed to do that?"

"Don't complain either!"

"-But you said-"

"Shh!"

"-you-"

"Shh!"

"-ar-"

"Shhhhh!"

Naruto clamped down on his tongue, and glared at the old man like he had at the blanket only a moment earlier. It was one of his I'm-fed-up-and-ready-to-do-something-about-it glares that normally had people either exasperated or defensive. The old man was neither. Instead he just picked up the pot he had been stirring, and sipped from it casually, while looking back at Naruto with a blank, unconcerned expression.

" _Well?_ "

Naruto huffed, "Well what?"

"Well I'm not asking for your number. Your name, blondie,"

"Oh," The blond felt ever so slightly like an asshole now, "It's Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki," He offered a small, sheepish smile.

"Hmm," the man scratched at his face, downed the contents of the pot, then held out his hand, "Algie Longbottom! Call me Al,"

And that was the start of it. The old guy was deranged, unpredictable, nonsensical, and Naruto was pretty sure he didn't even know it. But he had also given the blond food, clothes, and an arm chair to sleep in with no questions asked, so Naruto figured he couldn't be completely bonkers. If there was one true complain that he had, it would be that the man get a damn bathroom. Nine out of ten times there wasn't toilet paper when you peed in bushes. One out of ten times there was, and Naruto would throw his shoe at Al for being close enough to hand it to him.

But truly, Naruto was warm. Warm from the sun that spilled through the windows, Warm from the funny smiles Al would give him, and warm from Jeffery's attempts to smother him. Even crazy and unexplainable, there was something that swelled in Naruto's gut. A familiarity that Naruto beamed through, despite the sting. Naruto spent all of a day inside the small cottage, before he wielded the sting like a new kunai, and began running through his old routine. The stretches and workout only, of course. Even meditating in the forest, Naruto couldn't touch on the chakra that should have been there. The nature chakra that should have been there, was not. As absent as his own had been since the day he arrived. But the blond made due. He hadn't let go of his routines while in the prison, but the bushes and trees and grass pulled him into a new vigor.

Al watched. Every day, not unlike an interested buyer in a market, he observed the blond. He never directly paid attention to Naruto's business. But he would sneak curious glances. Sometimes they were knowing glances, accompanied by a small press of the lips that was completely out of character, and the old man would disappear back inside the house as if satisfied for the day. As if he had found the item he had been looking for.

Naruto asked once, where they were. He was almost positive it was far, far away. Aside from his new hinderance with Chakra and Kurama, there was very little he recognized. The food Al fed him was richer than anything he'd had on any mission, the plants far more exotic than anything he'd seen in the greenhouses, and the blanket far sassier and persistent than any blanket had the right to be. When brought up, Al gave him a curious look, pulled a thick book out from under the bed, and turned to a page with a map. "We're here, blondie. I hear it's called the Netherlands, just a cover i says, the Sphinx Migration of '37 was a tricky time,"

Naruto squinted, "eeeh….this can't be right!" Naruto grabbed the book, flipped it upside down just to be sure. Nope, still didn't recognise a single thing.

"You bet your bottom it's right, give it here, blondie!" The book was snatched out of his hands, "See here, you got scotland, england, france, germany, Norway up top!"

"But -but what about Hi no Kuni! Or Kaze no Kuni!"

"I've never heard of those restaurants, they any good?"

"Wha- no! You crazy old bat! What are you talking about with restaurants-"

"Shh," Al patted down the wild yellow locks, "don't worry your little brain blondie,"

Naruto realized very quickly that he could protest the man as much as he wanted, but he would most definitely not halt his oddness. It was moments like these that he would groan as loud as he could, and flop onto his back to mourn everything that could have made sense.

Summer was nice. Warm, and sunny, and it reminded Naruto of Hi no Kuni, with brilliant greens and chirping birds. Naruto spent as much of it outside as he could, munching on apples up in the trees.

One of those days, Al slammed open the kitchen windows, and shouted. "Ey, Why were you in Azkaban anyways bondie?!"

The apple hit the ground, quickly followed by Naruto. He may not know much about this odd place, but he was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to have escaped that prison. "W-" Naruto hacked, nearly choking on the apple in his mouth. And to be quite honest, he was fairly sure the kitchen windows didn't open, "What?!"

"Mmm," The man hummed, resting a stubbly chin on a hand, "I can't figure a way around it blondie, you're not magical. There's no way in hell you ended up in Azkaban. Since there's no way, I'd sure love to know how you managed to pull it off," The old man drummed his fingers across his face.

Naruto hacked some more, pounded his chest a bit, coughed. Still sat crumpled on the ground, he managed to look at the man through his less watery eye. Al's gaze lifted up to the sky as soon as they met. He looked for all the word like a man contemplating the very causations of the universe.

Then he snapped back into the house, and Naruto heard the distant call, "Good talk bondie!"

Naruto coughed a final thundering cough, and dislodged the chunk of apple. He watched the window in bewilderment. Had he known the whole time? He must have. But that didn't make any sense...unless he was planning something,even from the beginning. Naruto shook his head clear of the thought. No way. But he walked on glass for the rest of the day anyways, and decided to avoid apples for the long haul.


	6. A Lovely Bunch o' Cabinets

_Hey again! A wonderful reviewer pointed out a few mistakes of mine. I mentioned Percy a few chapters back, which was certainly my bad, he wouldn't be with the Weasleys at that point. I'm not going to go back and change it, just for posterity. But the other comment was that my chapters have been pretty broken and don't flow very well. That second one is especially true -after the first couple chapters, I had a hard time finding motivation for this story. Recently, some event happened in my life, and I found myself writing this again, with all sorts of new ideas. So, with any luck I'll be updating far more often. Every week hopefully. On another note, think about leaving a review, I absolutely adore hearing from you guys!_

 _Without further ado:_

There was a deep hole. A very, very deep hole. In the middle of the room. With much, much bottomless-ness. Tonks had spit down it twice, just to be sure. And Remus sighed each time.

"That...is most definitely-" She spat a third time, and leant further into the mouth of the well. Remus heaved a breath, and pinched the bridge of his nose, " _hopefully_ not why we are here," Tonks shushed him and dipped her head so low it began to be swallowed by the darkness. Then her hand slipped, and so did the rest of her. She was far too close to sliding into the hole when Remus caught the back of her shirt, and he looked wide eyed at the woman. Her face flushed an unearthly shade of purple as she stuttered out a thanks.

"Any luck Mr. wea- I mean, Arthur?" Tonks asked, brushing off her robes. The ends of her hair curled upwards in an anxious frizz.

Arthur, copper hair glistening in the low lit room, fiddled with the deadbolts, gave a good kick, and shook his head. "I wouldn't call it luck, no,"

"Remind me," Remus looked up and down the deadlocks, "Why you two, ministry workers, have to sneak into the azkaban files?"

Tonks huffed, "'cause we're not allowed in this section, of course,"

"However," Arthur hissed as the third deadbolt from the top spit acid at his prodding wand, "almost no one is. Back in the last war, towards the end, most suspected death eaters, wizards with dark connections, or snitches in the ministry -at least, the ones the ministry wanted to believe existed- were thrown away. As soon as you-know-who was confirmed dead, the ministry was done with the matter, put a lid on what was left, and said it was over. It wasn't, especially since most of the real death eaters bought their freedom under everybody else's nose. The actual people who were sent to azkaban…" He turned a knob half way around, and yanked hard, "Most didn't even get a trial, much less a fair one. Sirius was an example of that. Azkaban's files are classified because of that alone. Lots of people suspect it, but if anyone were to see it for themselves, there'd be no avoiding it. Azkaban is more of an excuse than a solution,"

"Is that true?" Tonks asked, biting her lip so hard it looked ready to bleed, "but that's...that's not fair!"

Arthur looked up at her from the corner of his eye, but it was Remus who spoke this time. His shoulder's hunched over, hands deep in his coat pockets, "Who said the ministry's ever fair?" His tone was sharp, loathing. Arthur paused in his work, then sat back on his heels.

"Think about it, Tonks. What kind of government risks it's own people's safety because it's scared of the truth?"

It didn't matter that they were half a room away from the hole anymore, its darkness rose through the room and ate the three whole. You could hear the spit hitting the bottom of the hole. Tonks had lost every ounce of color in her face. She whistled low and humorless, shoulders slacking. "You know. That really, really sucks."

Remus hummed in a wordless response. As it trailed off he nodded towards the locks, "Did either of you try Alohomora?"

Arthur blinked slowly,and looked about ready to nurse a headache. There was a ittle doubt, magic-lock picking was not his forte.

"No." Tonks snapped, "no way it would be _that_ simple." Remus rose an eyebrow, and Tonks stomped her foot, "no way." Arthur rose his wand again, and gave a wave. The locks clicked all at once. Tonks pursed her lips not to scream as Arthur pulled at the handle. It didn't open, and the three didn't know whether to groan or laugh. So they settled with dodging the raspberry the bottom lock blew at them.

"Any more ideas?" Arthur asked, shoving his hand in his coat pockets. He paused halfway there, hand closing around a wrapped treat. He pulled it out, and inspected it by his nose.

Tonks huffed, "not really the time for snacks,"

"I wouldn't eat that one either. Looks like one of Fred and George's." Remus added, slouched into the wall. His face retained only a trace of his earlier fierceness, instead lurking under the surface of exhaustion.

Arthur's face contorted into something funny as he fiddled with the wrapper, "this is a prank of theirs, then. I snagged it from them trying to feed it to Hermione's cat," He drug a hand down his face, any idea what this new one is meant to do?"

"I wouldn't try to find out," Tonks huffed, "Their other candies cause all sorts of nasty fluids to drip from places they shouldn't,"

"If it smells like caramel it's the trick candy, if it smells like licorice, there's a fifty fifty shot of it curing you, plus a definite that you won't be able to use your magic or your voice for three days," Remus scratched his cheek and shrugged at their looks, "My pranking days may have ended at hogwarts, but I like to keep in touch with the times,"

Arthur sniffed, "licorice?"

"Think if we knock and ask nicely it'll open?" Tonks asked. Neither moved, and she snorted to the door, "we can't very well go back empty handed, can we?"

"You'd have better luck feeding one of those locks that candy. At east if it was puking we'd all be dis...appoint...ed…" He heaved in a breath, and pushed off the wall, "Actually. Arthur, hand it here,"

Arthur held the candy between his fingers, "We're putting it in the door, I take it?"

And so they did. The lolling tongue of a middle lock swallowed it with a juicy slurp. Tonks whispered her disgust, but watched nonetheless. The middle lock quivered, and then did the others. In a matter of seconds the entire door was vibrating, and very suddenly it popped open with a squelch that doors certainly shouldn't make.

Tonk's jaw was struggling not to hit the floor. "It...but…"

"Remind me to stop taking Fred and George's jokes lightly." Arthur strode into the room, and Remus sighed long and low. He gave an imploring look to Tonks.

"Well...I suppose...it's open," She drug a hand down her neck, and stomped into the room. Not before, of course, she grabbed Remus by the arm and dragged him in too.

The room was small, which was unusual enough for the Ministry, but it was dingy too, so even worse. It was built of bars on top of grey brick, and only the size of the kitchen at Grimmauld place. The air was stale and stiff, and smelt like old cleaning supplies. Filing cabinets lined the walls, and a low thick table dressed the middle of the room. The light came from metal hangings on the walls, and they brightened as the two walked closer. Arthur squinted at the labels on the cabinets. "Pheonix Blood, Dark Pacts, Imperius,"

"Grindelwald, Killing Curse, Death Eaters," Tonks shook her head, "What kind of filing system is this?"

"I think…" Arthur straightened, and his overcast eyes scanned over the room, "it's going by crime."

Remus slid open a cabinet labeled simply by the word _Murder_. It swung open, and slid fifteen feet until it hit the wall on the other side. Inside weren't folders, but books. Thick tomes, with ribbons peeking out over the edge of the drawer. Remus fingered a ribbon. There was a name. "Sirius Black," Tonks breathed, pulling out a book near the end. Some of the books were thicker than others, though most were only as big as a fork prong. Sirius's was one of them. The cover was a picture of his face, animated and ugly, just as his wanted photo that still loitered at every inn and lamp post. He looked deranged then, and now. Remus swallowed thickly. Tonks thumbed through the pages. "One count of association with Death Eaters, one count of conspiracy of murder, one count of murder of a magical, twelve counts of murder of non magicals," Each crime had a page. And a description. And as she neared the front, the pages were occasionally empty, titled only by phrases such as _Evidence_ , and _Classified_. The front few pages weren't criminal records at all, but his citizenship information. The day he had been born, the school he had attended, the family he was from, and any other information that made him worth noting in any way. "...Hey guys, I think we might have a problem." Tonks slid the book back in place, "How are we supposed to find this guy if we don't know what he did?"

Remus slid open an adjoining cabinet, _illegal wands,_ "One by one,"

The three did, reluctantly, and it was a long day ahead. So was it for the teens left back at Grimmauld Place, who had hidden away in the twin's bedroom. They talked in harried whispers. Ron's arms waved comically, his quiet words seeming louder from the gesture alone, " 'Mione, Sirius said it himself, this guy is powerful!"

Hermione leaned on the edge of the bed, shoulders hiked up to her ears, "Ron, it still doesn't make any sense. We still don't know why he was put in azkaban,"

"Does it matter?" Ron barked, "We know he's dangerous now!"

"Oh shut up Ron," Ginny hissed, "Just because he's powerful, doesn't mean he's dangerous. Just look at Dumbledore!"

"Dumbledore's on our side though! No way is this guy-"

"Honestly, Ronald, we can't say for sure-"

"Yeah, listen to Hermione, she's actually smart enough to see past her own nose!" Ginny snapped, and huffed, leaning closer to Neville and farther from Ron. Neville, for his part, looked very uncomfortable with the whole debacle.

"Actually," Hermione cleared her throat, "that's exactly my point, we can't know anything right now -what Sirius said doesn't change anything. Except now we know that he's young, and seemed harmless-"

"Ha!"

"-seeming and being are two different things though-"

"Ha!"

"So basically," Hermione huffed, looking at the two down her nose, "We're exactly where we were last night,"

Ginny frowned, "Well I say he's a good guy," She turned her head, "right Neville? You believe me, don't you?"

Ron groaned, "You're only saying that to upset me, aren't you?" Ginny hissed at him, and swatted towards his head. He dodged to the side, and grumbled just out of reach. The three looked expectantly up to the last opinionator.

"W-well...I-I think he c-can't be all bad if he protected o-other prisoners," Neville gulped, his hands kneading in his lap, "b-but Hermione's right too...w-we really don't know anything about him…"

Ginny didn't seem to know whether to frown or smile, but Hermione was certainly pleased. The final gryffindor groaned, "Aw, c'mon Neville! Us men are supposed to stick together on things like this!"

"Pfft, _men_. You're funny Ron!" Ginny giggled, and Hermione threw a pillow at the redhead's chest, knocking him to his butt.

Neville blinked owlishly at the scene, not quite understanding. He offered a weak, "we're fifteen…"

"...and that's fifty,"

Tonks fell back onto the floor,and gave a disbelieving look at the cabinets. "Fifty cabinets! And he's not in a single one of 'em! That's every cabinet," Tonks made a frantic search for Remus, through the jungle of strewn open cabinets. She met his eyes desperately. He looked two grey hairs shy of deathly weary. "Remus...I even checked the Sphinx Migration cabinet! _Nobody cares about the sphinx migration Remus_." Her stomach grumbled in pity and she groaned into the room. "Does this guy really exist?"

"He has to, Sirius wouldn't lie about this," Remus grunted. He combed a hand through his hair, scanning the room slowly. Arthur had left an hour earlier in order to get to his actual job on time. It was just the two, and yet the room fet smaller and smaller each cabinet they searched. The wolf-man rested his head in his hands. The lighting was giving him a headache. Or maybe it was the smell of the room, "maybe...if we look back through, it could have fallen underneath the other books-"

"Hell no!" The table shuddered, Tonk's foot making a satisfying thunk against it's side, "I am _not_ going back through these cabinets!" Something landed on Tonk's foot.

"We have to- if we don't The Order will never be convinced to get the guy…"

Tonks picked it up, and flipped it over.

"We need to stay ahead of you-know-who, now that he's back, and Uzumaki is our best chance right now…"

Tonks choked on her spit, "Hey Remus…"

"At the very least Sirius could use the closure, seeing this guy again might help him finally put Azkaban behind him…"

"Remus," Tonks pulled his ear, "Look," It was a paper thin booklet, thinner than either of them had seen in the cabinets. And at the bottom was a ribbon labeled _Unknown._ There was no picture on the front of the book. Tonks exchanged a look with Remus, and opened it to the first page. It was blank. So was the second. And the third. In fact, there were only ten pages in the entire book, and all were equally as empty.

"What...the hell?"

"I have no idea,"

"It was taped to the underside of the table..." She flipped through it a second time, and cast a look across the room, "I guess that means we're looking through the cabinets again?"


	7. an apologyupdate

Hey everyone!

So first off I want to say thank you to each and every one of you. Every comment and favorite I have received has warmed my heart, and I really appreciate all the support and criticism I've received from you all throughout this entire story! It's crazy how something I posted on a whim over a year ago, recieved so much love and attention. You have all motivated me as a writer, and I owe you so much for that. More than words can really explain.

On another note, you all know I've been very inconsistent with my updates, and story in general. In truth, I've lost this story quite a bit. I started off writing this in a burst of inspiration, and got three or four chapters in before it faded. Since then, I've both grown and regressed and changed in many different ways. Life continues, and I'm very sure my writing has reflected this, not necessarily in a good way. There are serious inconsistencies in my story, partly due to my change in outlook, and partly due to the distance between updates.

In the past year I've started a new path for my future, met my sister for the first time, dealt with health problems that will follow me for the rest of my life, lost my dad, and finally I'm only a few days away from graduation. It's been a wild ride, and sometimes I just haven't been okay. But through it all, I've found myself coming back to this story again and again.

So here's the rundown you guys. I plan on giving this story a bit of an overhaul. I want more than anything to finish this story, and go by my original plan. Once upon a time I actually had a good idea for this thing! But it's been lost to time and bad execution. So this is my notice! I'm going through the story as a whole and remodeling it. The first chapter will remain the same, but from there out, the chapters will have changes, some minor, and some will be completely rewritten. And once I've caught up to the point in the story that I am now, I will continue on, and with any luck see this thing to it's finish!

The first changes will be updated tomorrow, and the rest should fall into place soon after. I'm sorry for all the trouble I've put you guys through!

I hope I can still prove to be the writer you once enjoyed!

With lots of appreciation and love

-quiche


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